South Korean President Park Geun-hye arrived in Kazakhstan on Wednesday on the second leg of a Central Asia tour focused mainly on expanding economic ties and realizing her vision for a barrier-free Eurasia.During Park's three-day state visit to Astana, the two countries are expected to pledge continued support for their ongoing joint projects worth a total of US$10 billion, including the construction of a coal-fired power plant and a petrochemical complex, officials said.Kazakhstan is the large

President Park Geun-hye is expected to name a new prime minister candidate as early as next week, sources said Saturday, as she moves to rev up her reform drive following the local elections.The nomination, which is due as early as June 8, comes after the president voiced strong will to push forward with her reform agenda in a Memorial Day speech earlier this week.The high-profile seat has been vacant since then Prime Minister Chung Hong-won offered to quit last month to take responsibility for

Ryu Hyun-jin (Yonhap)Ryu Hyun-jin of the Los Angeles Dodgers earned his seventh win of the season on the road against the Colorado Rockies on Friday, keeping the National League's highest-scoring offense at bay.Ryu improved to 7-2 this year after giving up two runs over six innings on eight hits at Coors Field, a notorious hitter-friendly park in Mile High City. Ryu struck out two and walked two, while lowering his ERA from 3.09 to 3.08.This was his fourth straight victory since coming off the d

The suspect in a shooting at a small Seattle university wanted to kill as many people as possible before killing himself, police said Friday.   A judge found probable cause to hold 26-year-old Aaron Ybarra without bail. The hearing came a day after Ybarra was arrested in the shooting that killed student Paul Lee and wounded two other young people, one critically, at Seattle Pacific University.In a statement filed in court, Seattle police wrote that Ybarra admitted to detectives after his arrest

South Korean stocks may move marginally upward next week, fueled by gains in bluechips from an inflow of foreign funds, analysts said Saturday.The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) finished at 1,995.48 this week, edging up 0.03 percent from a week earlier.The small rise can be attributable to data that indicated the global economy is on the mend, albeit slowly, and net buying of bluechip stocks by foreign investors. Foreigners, who exert considerable influence on the market, re

Kim Jong-un(Yonhap)North Korea has detained a 56-year old man from Ohio, accusing him of an unspecified crime after he traveled to the communist-led country as a tourist, the nation's state news agency and the man's family said Friday. The North is now holding three Americans.The state Korean Central News Agency identified the latest detainee as Jeffrey Edward Fowle. It said he arrived in North Korea on April 29 and authorities were investigating him for committing acts inconsistent with the pur

South Korea's senior presidentialpress secretary Lee Jung-hyun has offered to step down, sources at the presidential office said Saturday.Lee expressed his wish to resign following the June 4 local elections to President Park Geun-hye, according to the sources. The senior press secretary, a close aide to President Park, is forecast to join the Cabinet as the minister of culture, sports and tourism in an upcoming reshuffling.Officials are in the process of tapping Lee's successor among a pool of

Thai soldiers patrol near where pro-government are rallying on the outskirts of Bangkok on Wednesday. (AFP)Thailand's army chief has announced that the military has seized power in a coup to restore stability and order after six months of political deadlock and turmoil.Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha made the announcement Thursday in a statement broadcast on national television.He said the commission that imposed martial law Tuesday would now take control of the country's administration.The development f

North Korea on Thursday fired two artillery shells 150 meters from a South Korean patrol ship operating near the Northern Limit Line, a de facto inter-Korean border, sharply ratcheting up tension on the peninsula.The South immediately fired back, and there were no casualties, Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said.(Yonhap)“At around 6:00 p.m., the North’s artillery shells dropped 14 km southwest of Yeonpyeongdo Island, close to a South Korean patrol ship operating in our waters,” the JCS said in a p

A subway collision in central Seoul that has injured more than 200 passengers was caused by a mechanical malfunction, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said Saturday.Two trains collided on Seoul's busiest subway line at around 3:30 p.m. on Friday, injuring 238 passengers. No fatalities have been reported. Some 1,000 other passengers escaped safely around 10 minutes after the collision.The collision happened at Sangwangsimni Station on Subway Line 2 when a train ran into the back of another train

Prosecutors raided the office of the operator of a subway line on Saturday to look into what caused a train collision that injured more than 200 passengers a day earlier.Two trains collided on Seoul's busiest subway line at around 3:30 p.m. on Friday, injuring 238 passengers. No fatalities have been reported. Some 1,000 other passengers escaped safely around 10 minutes after the collision.The collision happened at Sangwangsimni Station on Subway Line 2 when a train ran into the back of another t

Swift currents and high waves caused by heavy winds have hampered divers in their search of a sunken ferry for some 70 people still missing amid concerns that their bodies may have been swept away, officials said Saturday.Navy, Coast Guard and civilian divers recovered two more bodies earlier in the day, bringing the death toll to 230. Seventy-two people are still missing from the sinking off South Korea’s southwestern island of Jindo on April 16.Concerns are growing that the bodies of the missi

A landslide triggered by heavy rain buried large sections of a remote northeastern Afghan village on Friday, killing at least 350 people and leaving more than 2,000 missing. Villagers looked on helplessly and the governor appealed for shovels to help dig through the mass of mud that flattened every home in its path.The mountainous area in Badakhshan province has experienced days of heavy rain and flooding, and the side of a cliff collapsed onto the village of Hobo Barik around midday. Landslides

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry expressed sympathy Friday for the loss of scores of South Korean students in the sinking of a ferry last month."As a father and grandfather myself, I cannot begin to imagine the pain so many in the Republic of Korea are enduring," he said in a statement issued on the occasion of South Korea's Children's Day that falls on May 5. It marked the secretary's first statement on South Korea's worst ferry disaster in decades."No parent should ever have to experience th

A jury awarded Apple $119.46 million, far less than it demanded, in a patent battle with Samsung over alleged copying of smart phone features, and the jury made the victory even smaller by finding that Apple illegally used one of Samsung's patents.The verdict was a far cry from the $2.2 billion Apple sought and the $930 million it won in a separate 2012 trial making similar patent infringement claims against older Samsung products, most of which are no longer for sale in the United States.The ju

Leading automakers gathered in Beijing Sunday for China's biggest car show, expressing confidence in the world's largest car market even though lacklustre economic growth and environmental restrictions have generated uncertainty. Spectators and journalists crowded around displays at the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition, which features more than 1,100 vehicles and opens to the public on Monday, while female models drew the attention of photographers.General Motors, Toyota, Volkswagen a

검찰이 16일 오전 9시 30분께 포스코의 자회사인 포스코P&S를 압수수색했다고 밝혔다.울산지검 특수부(박종근 부장검사)는 이날 서울 강남구 역삼동 테헤란로에 위치한 포스코P&S 본사로 수사진을 보내 사무실에서 철강 거래와 관련한 각종 자료 및 컴퓨터 하드디스크, 회계 장부 등을 확보한 것으로 알려졌다.검찰은 포스코 그룹 전반에 대한 조사가 아닌 자회사 포스코P&S의 간부에 대한 개인 비리 수사라고 강조했다.하지만 포스코P&S의 핵심 사업이 철강 가공·판매와 비철소재 가공사업, 자원 리사이클링 등 철강업 전반에 관련돼 매출의 대부분이 포스코와 연관된 점을 고려하면 앞으로 경과에 따라 수사가 확대될 가능성도 있다.포스코는 이미 지난해 9월 세무조사에서 자회사들과의 거래 과정에서 탈세나 위법 행위가 없는지 조사 받았다. 국세청은 이달 중으로 조사를 끝내고 법인 과징금 및 경영진에 대한 벌금 부과 등의 제재 방안과 수위 등을 검토하는 것으로 알려졌다.서울지방국세청은 포스코가 철강 거래 중

롯데홈쇼핑 임직원들이 납품업체로부터 받은 뒷돈의 상당 부분이 회사 차원의 비자금으로 조성된 정황이 검찰에 포착된 것으로 알려져 이 사건이 정·관계 로비로 확대될 수 있을지에 대한 관심이 일고 있다.서울중앙지검 첨단범죄수사1부(부장 서영민)는 전날 오전 9시부터 신헌 롯데쇼핑 사장을 조사해 이날 오전 5시에 귀가조치했다. 검찰은 신 사장이 2008-2012년 롯데홈쇼핑 대표 이사로 재직하던 당시 임직원들이 납품업체로부터 금품 수수를 받는 것을 암묵적으로 허용하고 이 중 상당 금액을 그룹 내 고위층이나 정관계 인사 등에게 전달했을 가능성을 열어두고 조사 중인 것으로 알려졌다.금품 수수 경위와 흐름이 아직 명확하지 않은 가운데 신 사장은 정관계 인사등에게 전달한 사실에 대해서는 함구한 것으로 알려졌다. 검찰 관계자는 “신 사장에 대한 조사가 상당 부분 이뤄졌다”며 이번 주 내로 구속영장을 청구할 방침이라고 밝혔다. 검찰은 20 시간 동안 걸쳐 진행된 조사에서 신 사장이 납품업체로부터 직·

롯데홈쇼핑 납품 비리 의혹을 받고 있는 신헌(60) 롯데백화점 사장이 14일 오전 피의자 신분으로 검찰에 소환됐다.서울중앙지검 첨단수사1부(부장 서영민)는 신 사장이 2008년에서 2012년 사이 롯데홈쇼핑 대표로 재직시 납품 업체들로부터 금품을 수수한 정황을 포착하고 지난 주말 신 사장에게 소환을 통보했다고 밝혔다.신 사장은 TV홈쇼핑 방송 편의 제공 등을 댓가로 회사 간부들이 납품업체들로부터 받은 뒷돈과 회삿돈 가운데 매달 수백만원씩을 상납 받은 혐의(횡령 및 배임수재)를 받고 있다.검찰은 신 사장을 상대로 정확한 상납 경위와 규모 등을 조사할 예정이다. 검찰은 조사가 끝나는 대로 신 사장에 대해 구속영장을 청구할 방침이다.검찰은 이달 초 신 사장에 대해 출국금지 조치했으며 앞서 롯데홈쇼핑 전ㆍ현직 회사 관계자 5명을 구속했다.(코리아헤럴드 석지현 기자)　　 <관련 영문 기사>Ex-Lotte Homeshopping head summoned over bribery scandalTh

지난해 8월 경북 칠곡에서 의붓딸을 때 려 숨지게 한 혐의(상해치사 등)로 구속기소된 계모 임모(36)씨가 1심에서 징역 10년이 선고 받았다.대구지법 제11형사부(김성엽 부장판사)는 11일 오전 열린 선고공판에서 “혐의가인정된다”며 징역 10년을 선고했다.재판부는 이어 숨진 딸(당시 8세)을 학대했던 혐의(아도복지법 위반)로 불구속기소된 친아버지 김모(28)씨에게도 징역 3년을 선고하고 법정구속했다.(코리아헤럴드 석지현 기자 monicasuk@heraldcorp.com)<관련 영문 뉴스>Woman sentenced to 10 years for murdering stepdaughterA South Korean woman was sentenced to a 10-year prison term on Friday for allegedly beating her 8-year-old stepdaughter to death.The 36-year-old woman, surnamed Lim, is a